I had a great time visiting students and faculty, and giving an evening talk, at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. You can watch it here or on Youtube. I was impressed with both students and faculty, and one faculty member in particular, economics professor Dan Kuester, was great. He went above and beyond for me and I thought the love that he showed in talking about his students was palpable.
My part starts at about the 9:00-minute point. My little joke at the start got more laughter than you hear on the film. It refers to this bad non-call by an NCAA ref in the Kansas/K-State basketball game earlier this month.
READER COMMENTS
Julien Couvreur
Jan 31 2017 at 2:33am
Thanks for sharing the talk.
Could you share your slides too?
Gene Laber
Jan 31 2017 at 9:33am
Chainsaw vs. radio station is a superb example. My first chainsaw was a McCulloch and I never thought about my consumer surplus. But I was well aware that it beat the heck out of the crosscut saw that I once used with my father when I was a kid.
TMC
Jan 31 2017 at 11:15am
Great lecture. It’s a shame consumer surplus is so widely unknown. I tried to teach my son to consider a person’s income as how much he’s contributed to the world, but never thought to add the consumer surplus on top of that.
Levi Russell
Jan 31 2017 at 11:56am
Dr. Kuester really is top-notch. I had him for Principles of Macro 10 years ago and his passion for teaching set him apart from other profs. I’m glad my alma mater brought you out there, David!
David R. Henderson
Jan 31 2017 at 1:08pm
@Julien Couvreur, Gene Laber, TMC, and Levi Russell,
Thanks much.
@Gene Laber,
But I was well aware that it beat the heck out of the crosscut saw that I once used with my father when I was a kid.
Yes. At my cottage, we didn’t graduate to a chain saw until the early 1970s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, my father and I used a chain saw to cut wood for our cottage. I always looked forward to that because it was a way of bonding with my father, who was sometimes difficult to bond with. But we didn’t need to cut a lot of wood–we could do the whole summer’s worth in a couple of hours because we had such good weather. Had we had to work a few days, I would have felt different.
Jacob Egner
Feb 2 2017 at 1:43pm
Thanks so much for the lecture. I hope to remember many of your points the next time I’m discussing or just pondering about inequality.
Dan Kuester
Feb 4 2017 at 4:42pm
David – thanks for the kind words. Not only was this a great talk and reception, the students really enjoyed having a chance to visit with you earlier that afternoon.
You have a genuine interest in the students and had some great advice.
Mark M
Feb 4 2017 at 7:25pm
Thanks for sharing, makes me miss your classes. Not the tests though. 🙂
David R. Henderson
Feb 5 2017 at 10:36am
@Jacob Egner,
You’re welcome.
Some of the points are in this piece I did about 9 years ago.
@Dan Kuester,
Thanks, Dan.
@Mark M,
I miss you too, Mark.
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